This course will educate you in the characteristics and properties of natural gas, preparing you with the ability to summarize gas system components and new pipeline technologies. You will be enabled to grasp the key factors behind formation of the natural gas industry and the historical use of natural gas. Ultimately, you will be able to identify gas and carbon monoxide safety procedures.
This course is for individuals considering a career in the energy field (who have a high school diploma, at minimum, and basic knowledge of mathematics), and existing energy sector employees with less than three years of experience who have not completed similar training and would benefit from a course of foundational industry concepts.
Main concepts of this course will be delivered through lectures, readings, discussions and various videos.
This is the second course in the Energy Production, Distribution & Safety specialization that explores various facets of the power sector, and features a culminating project involving creation of a roadmap to achieve a self-established, energy-related professional goal.

Преподаватели

Tom Russo

President

Текст видео

Welcome to Introduction To Natural Gas. My name is Tom Russo. I'll be your instructor for this course. This course has four modules. In module one, we'll cover the basics of natural gas and follow a molecule of natural gas from the ground to the burning tip. We'll touch upon the properties of natural gas and natural gas exploration as well. Let's begin. Natural gas is a fossil fuel and is also called methane. It's one of the cleanest burning fossil fuels compared to coal and crude oil. When we burn natural gas, we end up with low levels of carbon dioxide, water and particulate matter. In contrast, when we burn coal or oil, we get a great deal of particulate matter, which causes health problems and a lot more carbon dioxide. This is why natural gas is replacing coal and oil-fired power plants. It's just a cleaner fuel. Natural gas or methane comes from a variety of sources. In this course, we're going to focus on man-made natural gas and petroleum systems. This is the natural gas that we extract from the ground using gas and oil wells. It makes up about 35 percent of the natural gas in the environment. Landfills generate about 20 percent of the natural gas in the environment. Last but not least, enteric fermentation contributes about 22 percent of natural gas in our environment. Enteric fermentation is really easy to remember. It's simply produced by the natural gases released such as burps by animals with multi-chambered stomachs like cows, deer and camels. Some are concerned about climate change and worried about natural gas or methane leaks because methane is a greenhouse gas that is 20 more times potent than carbon dioxide. Natural gas and crude oil were formed from the bodily remains of minute marine life that lived between 300 to 400 million years ago in ancient oceans. When these creatures died, they were covered by sand and silt for another 50 to 100 million years. After extreme pressure and heat over time and the marine life turned into natural gas and crude oil. Many people wonder why we find more natural gas in some places and crude oil in others. As it turns out, the marine fossils that were cooked longer turned into natural gas while others that were under less pressure and heat turned into oil. Landfills, agricultural waste from dairies, chicken and pig farms and food processing waste produce natural gas when they decompose. We call this biogas. If you clean this gas up and remove the impurities, it's called renewable natural gas. This natural gas can be used just like natural gas that comes out of a well to produce power, operate natural gas vehicles, et cetera. Now, let's turn our attention to natural gas supply and demand. Over the course of a year, the United States produced about 80 billion cubic feet per day of gas and consumes about the same amount. Fortunately, the US produces most of its natural gas but also imports and exports it via pipeline from Canada and in the form of LNG or liquefied natural gas. The US also exports LNG and, of course, more on LNG in module three. As for demand, we use natural gas to produce electricity for residential heating and cooking and in industrial processes. Residential use of natural gas is down largely because of energy efficiency improvements.